Improved hatchway-guard



ntd mes gaat een.

HENRY H. covEnT, or NEW YORK, N. Y.

Letters Patent No. 96,398, dated November 2, 1869.

IMPROVED HATCHWAY-G-UARD.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making of the same.

for hatchways ill buildings; and has for ils object toprovide a removable safety-guard, for the prevention of 'accidents to persons by inadvertently stepping over the edges oi the openings in the -tloors and falling through.

The. invention comprises a hinged fence or railing for each side perpendicular to the wall, hingedv to it, and adapted for raising up against the wall when freight is to be raised or lowered.

Also, all arrangement of spring-guard for the side, parallel wit-ll the wall, n'ladecapablc ot' moving up and down in guides below the floor, and provided with. springs for throwing them up, and held down by catches arranged to be detached by the weight of a person on the i'loorapproaching the hatclnvay, the iioor near the same being hinged vand lnovable.

Figure l represents a sectional elevation ot my ilnp proved guard, the section being taken on a plane perpendicular to the wall ofthe building, alongside ot'l which the hatchway is placed;

Figure 2 represents a sectional elevation of the same, taken on the line z x ot'tig. 1; and' Figure 3 represents a partial plan view.

A represents the wall ofthe building, by the side of wllich the hatchway is arranged, and B represents the floor Iin'e.

C is the. usual trap door, employed to close the opening when not required for use. l

E and F are the side railings, showing two di'erent ways of constructing them.

G represents the t'ront spring-rails or guards.

Tile side rails may be composed ot' one bar E, connected to the wall, two bars, E?, pivoted to it, one on each side, and one above the other, and a post, E, pivoted to the other ends. ofthe bars E2, so as to fold lup against the wall, where it may be secured by hooks E* when access to the hatchway is desired, orto be turned down to guard the same, as represented in tig. 1, the post Ei being tenoned to enter a morti'se in the floor, as shown at E5.

Or the said sderails may be made as shown at F,

\ where the posts FI and F2 are slotted, for theintrodnction ot' a central rail, 1", two other rails, F4, being arranged similarly to the rails E".

4The centra-l 'rail F3 is arranged to be about Vlnidway between the rails F4 wllell adjusted to guard the batch- These bars may be arranged to fold into recesses in the wall, -so as to be liush with the same, as represented at J.

For the side fronting the wall, Irarrange a verticallysliding guard of two or more sections, telescoped, or arranged to slide upon each other. This said guard is composed of' horizontal rails'H H1 H, having vertical extensions at each end, by which the connections are. formed for sliding ou each other; these may be arranged as preferred. I have arranged the two outside projections with grooves, and the inner one with tongues fitting the grooves.

The said outside projections are also provided with stop-pins, I, for remitting the movement on the central -one, which stops come against shoulders of recesses formed in the tongues of the central projection, as shown at K.

I represents springs, arranged under the projection of these rails, at each end, to force them up.

M are S-shaped spring-dogs, for holding them down.

They are pivoted at N and provided with round projections at the upperends, to take into holes O in the upper bar H when pressed down, and they are held in .this position by spring 1; thelower ends are shouldered 'at Q, and projections It from a hinged part, T, of the door, rest on the said shoulders, so that when a person approaching the hatchway steps upon the. hinged part T and presses it down, tile dogs will be thrown back out of the holes in the top rail, and the springs will throw the rails up betweenv the person and the hatchway.. 'l

NV hen freight is to be passed over thel hinged part, skids may be so arranged above it as not to press it down td disengage the dogs. f

These spring-rails lnay also be arranged on the other sides ot' the hatchway, in place of the folding bars E and F, it' preferred,` and in some cases I propose so to arrange them.

The posts E and .ll2 may be provided with springcatches V, for holding the rails H up.

Having'thns described my invention, I claim as new,.and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The folding hatchway-gnard E or F, arranged in combination wit-l1 the floor and wall, for adjustment in front of the hatchway, or yfor folding up against the wall, substantially as specified.-

2. Tile combination ofthe vertically-sliding spring.

raiis H H H2, hinged door Tg' and dogs M, when arranged in the oors for guarding the hatchway, substantially as speciiied.

3. The combination, with the folding rails E or F, of the vertically-sliding spring-rails H H1 H2, substaniially as specified.

The above specification of my invention signed by me, thisilth day of August, 1869.

HENRY H. OUVERT. 

